Ten Signs Your Coworkers are Fed Up with You

In a perfect world, coworkers would be best friends, holding hands and skipping as they made their way to the watercooler. Unfortunately, in the real world, coworkers don’t always get along.

This doesn’t mean there’s no happiness at work (after all, there’s a break, then lunch, then another break). It just means that coworkers get fed up with one another from time to time, perhaps more often than most people realize.

So, how do you know if they’re annoyed with you? Look for the following signs:

Despite your best efforts and asking multiple coworkers to take your shift, no one’s willing to help you out. They all have excuses, and none of them are good.

Everyone will take your shift.

On the flipside, if people are willing to take your shift when you haven’t even asked them to, something is amiss. Coworkers shouldn’t routinely insist you stay home and take care of your sick cat. Especially if they know that you don’t even own a cat.

They exclude you from anything fun.

From a Friday afternoon happy hour to a birthday celebration in the courtyard, if your coworkers exclude you more often than they include you, there’s probably a reason for that. Once or twice, you can chalk it up to an accident, but consistent exclusion is harder to ignore.

They give you the side-eye on the way to the boss’s office.

Fed up coworkers will gladly throw you under the bus for things you did, or did not do on the job. They’re watching you, and they’re waiting for you to make a mistake.

Email may not be a great form of communication, since it takes away body language, but passive-aggressiveness comes through loud and clear. For example: “Dear Charlie, I thought you were going to stay late, but you left early…again. No big deal, though. I only had to miss my grandmother’s 100th birthday party, but I’m sure I can celebrate with her next year. At least you had a fun night out.”

They stop asking for your opinion.

It might seem frustrating when coworkers rely on you too often, but it’s a show of respect, as well. When coworkers stop asking for your opinion or your insight, there’s a chance they simply don’t need assistance. There’s also a chance, however, that they just don’t want assistance from the likes of you.

They assign you tasks no one wants.

If you find yourself being volunteered for the chores no one else wants – cleaning the bathrooms, for instance – there are a few possibilities: your coworkers are annoyed with you or they see you as a real go-getter. You decide which of the two applies to you.

They form alliances.

Everyone knows that cliques don’t end after high school graduation; they’re up there with death and taxes, a permanency of life. If you’re suddenly on the outside looking in, there’s a reason.

They refuse to give you credit.

People who like you won’t usually stab you in the back (or stab you at all). If they’re taking credit that’s yours, you’ve made an enemy.

They tell you.

The surest way to know your coworkers are fed up is perhaps the most obvious. In some cases, they simply tell you that they have had enough of your antics.

If you have started to notice that you’re the “odd man out” at work, don’t just sit around sulking about it; take corrective action! One way that you can make them like you more is by taking steps to improve your dependability. Start showing up on time for every shift, and if you can’t make it, get someone else on your team to take your shift. Our philosophy is that you can be a better coworker without giving upon the things you love to do. To learn more about adopting a carefree lifestyle filled with less work and more play, sign up for our mailing list.